As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Most information handling systems include a basic input/output system (BIOS) that includes test capabilities, to determine the functionality of critical subsystems. Some information handling systems may include technologies that allow users to remotely observe the progress of certain tests by redirecting text or graphics to a serial text or graphics console. In effect, text and graphics consoles allow text or graphics messages which would otherwise be displayed locally on the information handling system being tested, to be displayed on a remote information handling system.
For some failures, e.g. failures detected during early portions of a power-on self test (POST), however, no text or graphics display is generated. For instance, failures that cause the information handling system to stop responding before video is queued, or before serial text generation is enabled, do not normally cause text or graphics to be generated. Instead, these types of failures are most often indicated by generating a pattern of audible tones, commonly referred to as a beep code. Based on the beep code, a user can determine which portion of the POST failed.